Leadership Burnout

Burnout affects leaders at all levels in an organization. It is the state of mental, emotional and physical exhaustion usually characterized by prolonged feelings of frustration, anxiety, stress and tiredness. Leaders experiencing burnout tend to become indecisive and less confident, leading to poor decisions, low morale, unwilling to engage with their team members; resulting in lower levels of engagement among employees. 

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized burnout as a syndrome involving a range of symptoms relating to chronic stress – declaring it a true workplace hazard. What causes burnout though? 

Workplace Culture, Cause And Cure

The work environment contributes greatly to the cause and cure, as well as the prevention of burnout among both employees and leaders. Factors such as company values, employee workload and communication practices contribute to the leader’s ability to foster a positive work attitude and successfully execute professional duties. Leaders can also experience burnout as a result of neglect for their personal wellbeing, overexertion and the perception that their own efforts in the role have failed to garner the results they expect.

Here are three (3) powerful leadership strategies that can be used to address and prevent burnout: 

1.     Empower Your Team Members And Delegate More

Refrain from micro-managing. Instead, create an environment where your whole team – including yourself, can own and take responsibility for reaching goals.

2.     Manage Yourself

Manage yourself and your time. Doing this effectively can enable you to reduce and manage stress, reach your goals, accomplish what is most important, maintain balance and more. Decide what activities are important, not important, urgent or not urgent, determine what to change and what to eliminate. Learn to say NO!!! 

3.  Seek Support

Build positive support in your personal and professional life. Seeking professional mentorship or guidance from a leadership development coach can help to equip leaders with tools to properly steer them in the right direction and develop a suitable plan of action to suit their life realities.

If you’re feeling Frustrated, Anxious, Stressed and Tired in your role as a leader, it means that you are on the F.A.S.T track to burnout – but you don’t have to be. The opportunity exists for you to level up your leadership and learn how to confidently set up yourself and your team for success.

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Nadine Burrowes-Seaga is a Life and Leadership Coach, Speaker, Change Management Specialist and Chief Energy Officer (CEO) of People Development Consultants.